After Pandora's box
by Opsirus
Summary: Five years after T3 Kate Brewster leads a disastrous mission, and finds someone pivotal in the war against the machines.


Five years ago everything changed. The Skynet computer program was given control of the entire United States military. My father did this because he was ordered to. It has taken me years to forgive him. Years of blood, sweat, and tears to understand that sometimes, following orders is all we have left.  
  
"Form up!" I scream over the noise. The machines have made our position. Of the thirteen people that started this mission, three of us remain. And from the looks of it, we may not even make it.  
  
"Aye!" Delfino shouts back. He's a good man, loyal to a fault. His wife will never know what happened to him out here. She'll ask John, and he'll tell her he died bravely. It's not fair somehow.  
  
I can hear the whine of the turbines, looking to my left I see the third member of our doomed trio. We call her Mute, because she's never spoken a word in three years. She raises a rocket launcher. I nod in agreement, the launchers are rare, but the information we found is priceless, if any of us make it back.  
  
The whine becomes a deafening roar as the machine closes in. My hands shake as I clutch my rifle. My fears are confirmed when I check the remaining shells. Fifteen shots, all I have are fifteen shots. Delfino smiles at me, but I can tell he's as scared as I am. Then the sky is lit up as Mute's rocket drops the drone.  
  
An eerie silence settles over the burned out ruins of a city. I can't even recall which one we're in; they all look the same anymore. Picking up my gear I jog towards Delfino. "They'll know where we are. Anything we could set a perimeter with?"  
  
He lowers his head and shakes it slowly. "We used all the claymores last time Kate." Raising his eyes he looks at me. I can see what he's thinking, because they all think that at the end.  
  
"Don't. We'll make it." I cut him off. "There won't be any heroics, am I clear?" I ask firmly. He nods, unconvinced.  
  
Mute lays her hand on my shoulder, gripping it softly. "You're right, we need to move. How's our cargo?" I gesture to the metal case she carries. She nods her head and smiles weakly. "Then we still have a chance." I say, my voice filled with bravado.  
  
"We should get some rest chief. no telling when they'll get here." Delfino says, already moving away.  
  
"Right. Find a spot with some cover, I'll take first watch," I say, leaving no room for compromise.  
  
Hours pass, and I have time to think. I think about the past, and all the mistakes I've made. Most of them are meaningless now. What does it matter that I locked my keys in the car and missed an interview when all of it is gone. All of it.  
  
Staring through teary eyes I see the city as it once was. Its barely four o'clock, people would be getting off work soon. The streets would have been filled with traffic. I look a few blocks east and see the remains of a park. What was once green and full of life is now a graveyard of concrete and charred metal. I morbidly wonder where all the bodies are. Then I remember that there probably were no bodies. The heat would have incinerated them, and the shockwave wiped all traces away.  
  
Blinking away tears I close my eyes. I try and think about what I have left. I think about John, and the future we know is waiting for us. I hope he's right, that we have years before either of us dies. I'm not sure if I believe in destiny, but I do believe in hope.  
  
The crunching of concrete beneath treaded vehicles interrupts my soul- searching. I sigh, silently praying. I look through my binoculars and see the thing of nightmares. Terminators.  
  
"Delfino!" I whisper, shaking him awake. "T-1's, four of them." I explain as I move towards Mute. She's already awake, looking at me expectantly.  
  
I close my eyes. Four. Fully equipped we'd be hard-pressed to destroy them, but in our present condition it's impossible. I want to crawl under the rubble and vanish. I want to put the rifle to my head and squeeze. Opening my eyes I see the two people before me. Friends and comrades, they trust me to lead. Swallowing the bile in my throat I devise a plan.  
  
"Mute. take the case. Run if you have to, but get home." I manage to say, choking back the sobs.  
  
She shakes her head, pushing the case into my arms. Delfino nods, cocking his rifle. Our carefully constructed masks of calm crumble, and three old friends hug for the last time. We cry, knowing that only one of us will live.  
  
"I can't. I can't leave you here." I whisper.  
  
"You have to. You're too important. We know what you and Conner say behind closed doors. We know about the prophecy. We believe in you." Delfino says, with all the conviction of a child in church.  
  
I open my mouth to protest. Trying to tell him that it's not a prophecy, but Mute places her finger to my lips, and presses softly. I nod, and stand quickly. The Terminators are almost in sight. One last goodbye, and I run.  
  
For almost ten minutes I hear them fighting. The rapid bursts of machine gun fire shatter the calm of afternoon. I wonder if maybe they made it, if maybe they lived, but then everything is silent. Everything except the relentless rumble of the killing machines.  
  
My legs give out, and I fall to the ground. Barely able to breath, I crawl into a gutted building. Huddled against a shattered wall I let grief take me. There's no way out of this. I can't out run a machine.  
  
I spin around, bringing my rifle up. I expect to see the glowing eyes, instead I see a boy. He can't be much older than nine or ten years. He's filthy and skittish, like a cornered stray. I smile, remembering my former life.  
  
"I won't hurt you." I say softly, laying the gun down slowly. I hold my hand out.  
  
He blinks, and breaths. It's a good sign. I start to wonder if he can speak, or if he's been alone all these years. He moves towards me.  
  
"The monsters are coming. we need to get to my pipes." He whispers, grabbing my hand, pulling me towards him.  
  
"Pipes? What pipes?"  
  
"My dad. he showed me how to make pipes to kill the monsters. You have to come with me, or you'll die." He says, sparking a memory.  
  
He looks so familiar, this boy. I nod, realizing I have nothing to lose. I wonder what good pipes are against a Terminator. Maybe he means to hide in the pipes. Maybe the metal blocks whatever the machines use to see us. I stand up, and scream. I must have twisted my ankle when I fell.  
  
The boy turns to me, a horrified look on his face. Realization hits me, just as the bullets shred the wall. Dropping my hand he bolts for the back. I don't blame him.  
  
He stops, and points to my feet. "Pipes! Run!"  
  
I look down, and see a three-foot long length of pipe, closed at both ends. A lit fuse trails from one end. Pipe bombs.  
  
Placing my weight on the injured ankle sends pain shooting upward. I scream now, the machines already know where I am. I hazard a look back, and see two Terminators and one heavily damaged. I wonder why they aren't firing. I duck behind the wall with the boy and smile.  
  
They're out of bullets. They can't fire because Del and Mute made them run out of bullets. The boy lays his head on my chest, holding me. I hug him, waiting for his pipes to explode. The explosion brings the building down on top of them. I realize that the kid must have laid pipes next to all the support beams. He's a smart kid.  
  
Holding him tightly I let myself cry a little. Something reminds me of what my father said before he died. He muttered that he had opened Pandora's box. I remember the myth, of how the box released all the evils of the world. Death, hunger, fear, despair, everything that we now faced. And then I smiled, because there was one last thing inside the box, one thing that never escaped. Hope.  
  
"What's your name soldier?" I ask quietly.  
  
"R-Reese ma'am. Kyle Reese." He whispers.  
  
END 


End file.
